Display image generation with differential illumination

• US 20030231260A1
• Filed: 03/14/2003
• Published: 12/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Allen, William J., Pate, Michael A., Dixon, Brian S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,391,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/744
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 26/008 in the form of devices for effecting sequential colour changes, e.g. colour wheels
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3114 by using a sequential colour filter producing one colour at a time
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3155 for controlling the light source light source control per se H05B35/00 – H05B47/00; control of an illumination source for displays in general G09G3/3406
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/3182 Colour adjustment, e.g. white balance, shading or gamut white balance per se H04N9/73; control of amplitude of colour signals H04N9/68; colour control circuits for displays in general G09G5/02, G09G3/2003, G09G3/3607
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 9/73 Colour balance circuits, e.g. white balance circuits or colour temperature control camera processing pipelines for colour balance H04N23/88

Abstract

A method of producing a display image comprises receiving image information representing an image to be displayed, producing an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, and projecting the produced image along an optical path. The differently colored images have color intensities related to energy applied to a light source. A level of energy is applied to the light source during production of the image of one color that is different than the level of energy applied to the light source during production of the image of another color.

Claims

1. A display system comprising:

an image source having a light source, the image source being configured to produce, in response to received image information, a composite image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, each image having a color intensity that corresponds to energy applied to the light source, the energy applied during production of the image of one color being greater than the energy applied during production of the image of another color; and

a display device configured to display the plurality of images produced by the image source.

2. The display system of claim 1, wherein the image source is further configured to apply different levels of energy during production of the image of the one color.

3. The display system of claim 2, wherein the image source is configured to produce the image of the one color for a given duration and with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration.

4. The display system of claim 1, further comprising an identifier configured to identify a display condition associated with the display of an image, the image source configured to apply energy appropriate to produce the image based on the identified display condition.

5. The display system of claim 4, wherein the identifier includes at least one of a selectable-gamut selector, an ambient-light sensor, an image-content analyzer, and a display-appearance analyzer, configured to cooperate with the image source to produce a colored image based on a respective one of a selected gamut, a sensed ambient light, an image content, and an image display appearance.

6. A display system comprising:

an image source having a light source, the image source being configured to produce, in response to received image information, an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, each image having a color intensity that corresponds to energy applied to the light source, the image of the one color being produced for a given duration with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration; and

a display device coupled to the image source and configured to project the differently colored images along an optical path to produce, when displayed, a color image formed of the differently colored images.

7. An image projector comprising:

an image source configured to produce, in response to received image information, an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, each image having a color intensity that corresponds to energy applied during production of a respective color, the energy applied during production of the image of one color being greater than the energy applied during production of the image of another color; and

a display device coupled to the image source and configured to project along an optical path, the image produced by the image source.

8. The image projector of claim 7, wherein the image source is further configured to apply different levels of energy during production of the image of the one color.

9. The image projector of claim 8, wherein the image source is configured to produce the image of the one color for a given duration and with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration.

10. A color source for a display system comprising at least one light source, the color source being configured to produce light of different colors and to direct the light of different colors along an optical path, energy applied to the at least one light source during production of at least one color being different than energy applied to the at least one light source during production of another color.

11. The color source of claim 10, wherein the color source is further configured to produce the one color with a first duration associated with an image, and during the first duration, to apply a first level of energy to the at least one light source for a second duration less than the first duration.

12. The color source of claim 11, wherein the color source is further configured to apply a second level of energy to the at least one light source during a third duration, also less than the first duration, with a first portion of the third duration occurring before the second duration and a second portion of the third duration occurring after the second duration.

13. A display system comprising the color source of claim 10 and further comprising an identifier configured to identify a display condition associated with the display of an image to be generated from image information, wherein the color source is configured to shift the color to which the different energy level is applied based on the identified display condition.

14. The display system of claim 13, wherein the identified display condition is a gamut selection and the color source shifts the color to which the different energy level is applied based on the gamut selection.

15. A method of producing a displayed image comprising:

receiving image information representing an image to be displayed;

producing an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors having color intensities related to energy applied to a light source, including applying a level of energy to the light source during production of the image of one color that is different than the level of energy applied to the light source during production of the image of another color; and

displaying the produced image.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising applying different levels of energy to the light source during production of the image of the one color.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein producing includes producing the image of the one color for a given duration, and applying a pulse of energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising identifying a display condition associated with the display of an image, and applying energy to the light source based on the identified display condition.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein identifying comprises at least one of detecting a gamut setting, detecting an ambient-light characteristic, analyzing the image information to determine one or more image attributes, and analyzing the displayed image to identify one or more appearance attributes of the displayed image.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein producing includes producing white light, and applying energy includes varying the amount of energy used to produce white light.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein analyzing the image information includes identifying at least one of a number of unique colors, a frequency of a unique color, an average pixel intensity, a frame-to-frame image content change, and an image source type.

22. A method of producing a displayed image comprising:

receiving image information representing an image to be displayed;

producing, in response to received image information, an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, the images each having a color intensity that corresponds to energy applied to a light source, including producing an image of one color for a given duration and with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration; and

projecting the differently colored images along an optical path to produce, when displayed, a color image formed of the differently colored images.

23. A method of projecting an image comprising:

receiving image information representing an image to be displayed;

producing an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors having color intensities related to energy applied to a light source, including applying a level of energy to the light source during production of image of one color that is different than the level of energy applied to the light source during production of image of another color; and

projecting the produced image along an optical path.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein producing further comprises applying different levels of energy during production of the image of the one color.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein producing further comprises producing the image of the one color for a given duration and with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration.

26. A method of producing an image for display comprising:

producing light of one color in a display system comprising at least one light source, including applying a first level of energy to the at least one light source during production of the light of one color; and

producing light of another color, including applying a second level of energy to the at least one light source, the second level being different than the first level;

directing the light of the one color and the light of another color along an optical path; and

modulating the light in a manner producing images to be displayed.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein producing the light of the one color includes producing the light of the one color with a first duration associated with an image, and during the first duration, applying the first level of energy to the at least one light source for a second duration less than the first duration.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein producing the light of the one color further includes applying a third level of energy to the at least one light source during a third duration also less than the first duration.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein a first portion of the third duration occurs before the second duration and a second portion of the third duration occurs after the second duration.

30. The method of claim 26, further comprising identifying an image display condition associated with the display of an image produced from image information, and shifting the color to which the second energy level is applied to a different color based on the identified display condition.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein identifying includes detecting a gamut setting, and shifting is based on the detected gamut setting.

32. Apparatus for producing a displayed image comprising:

means for receiving image information representing an image to be displayed;

means for producing an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors having color intensities related to energy applied to a light source, wherein a level of energy applied to the light source during production of the image of one color that is different than the level of energy applied to the light source during production of the image of another color; and

means for displaying the produced image.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein differing levels of energy are applied to the light source during production of the image of the one color.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the image of the one color is produced for a given duration, a pulse of energy is applied during the given duration having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration.

35. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising means for identifying a display condition associated with the display of an image, and wherein energy is applied to the light source based on the identified display condition.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for identifying a display condition includes means comprises at least one of means for detecting a gamut setting, means for detecting an ambient-light characteristic, means for analyzing the image information to determine one or more image attributes, and means for analyzing the displayed image to identify one or more appearance attributes of the displayed image.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the means for identifying a display condition includes means comprises means for analyzing the image information, and the means for analyzing the image information is further for identifying at least one of a number of unique colors, a frequency of a unique color, an average pixel intensity, a frame-to-frame image content change, and an image source type.

38. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for producing an image is further for producing white light, and wherein the amount of energy used to produce white light is variable.

39. An apparatus for producing a displayed image comprising:

means for receiving image information representing an image to be displayed;

means for producing, in response to received image information, an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, the images each having a color intensity that corresponds to energy applied to a light source, including producing an image of one color for a given duration and with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration; and

means for displaying the produced image.

40. An apparatus for projecting an image comprising:

means for producing, in response to received image information, an image formed of a plurality of images of different colors, the images each having a color intensity that corresponds to energy applied during production of a different color, the energy applied during production of the image of one color being greater than the energy applied during production of the image of another color; and

means for projecting the produced image along an optical path.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the means for producing is further for applying different levels of energy during production of the image of the one color.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein the means for producing is further for producing the image of the one color for a given duration and with a pulse of applied energy having a duration less than the given duration and a level of energy different than the level of the energy applied during the remainder of the given duration.

43. An apparatus for producing an image for display comprising:

receiving image information representing an image to be displayed;

means for producing light of different colors including at least one light source, the producing means applying a first level of energy to the at least one light source during production of one color, and applying a second level of energy to the at least one light source during production of another color, the second level being different than the first level;

means for directing the light of the one color along an associated optical path and the light of the other color along the associated optical path; and

means for modulating the light in a manner producing images to be displayed.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the producing means is further for producing the light of the one color with a first duration associated with an image, and during the first duration, for applying the first level of energy to the at least one light source for a second duration less than the first duration.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein producing the light of the one color further includes applying a third level of energy to the at least one light source during a third duration also less than the first duration.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein a first portion of the third duration occurs before the second duration and a second portion of the third duration occurs after the second duration.

47. The apparatus of claim 43, further comprising means for identifying a display condition associated with the display of an image produced from image information, the producing means further for shifting the color to which the second energy level is applied to a different color based on the identified display condition.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the identifying means is further for detecting a gamut setting, and the producing means shifts the color based on the detected gamut selection.